>> the fallout of war, the iraqi town of fallujah, suffering high rate of cat cancer and birth defects. more american sanctions are put on north korea' after their sinking of a south korean warship earlier this year. >> that must halt their belligerence. >> president obama signed into law the most wide-ranging financial forms since the great depression of the 1930's. welcome to "bbc world news," broadcast on pbs around america and around the globe. the president of sedan is a question. the bodies of another dictator

raise questions after exhumation. it was the scene of intense fighting six years ago, a and a new survey shows increases in cancer and infant mortality. they say that carrying out a clinical investigation is extremely difficult. johnson's in went in briefly to get this report. >> it was only possible to say a few hours, but in that time we found large numbers of children -- many of the children had

tumors on their spines and there was plenty of evidence of brain damage. some of the cases were too dreadful to show. a report has been published that details the results of a survey of 4800 people in fallujah. cancer and other problems are significantly higher than those of the people suffering in japan in 1945. child mortality is 84,000. by contrast, neighboring jordan is 17 per thousand. egypt, just under 20. the report says that there has been a twelvefold increase in childhood cancer compared with the average in fallujah. it says that the ratio of boys to girls has changed dramatically to 860 boys for 1000 girls.

>> far fewer boys were born than girls, a well known expression of genetic damage. the interesting thing also is that the spectrum that we found included this genetic damage as an indicator, but much worse. >> the way that the survey was done, it means that it still does not finally conclusive. >> not altogether surprising given the dangers in fallujah. even the iraqi government does not seem very interested in finding out more. perhaps because fallujah is a predominantly sunni muslim town and the government is overwhelmingly shiite muslim. state government warns people in fallujah not to take part because they said it was being carried out by terrorists, the study. >> even if it is possible to produce watertight scientific

proof that american weapons were responsible for the problems in fallujah, it will be impossible for the people that suffered to get any redress. american legislation makes it extremely difficult for foreigners to seek -- sued the u.s. government over acts of war. >> the bbc has invited the pentagon to comment, we have had no response. no hesitation on the subject of north korea. we are targeting the leadership and their assets. that was the message from hillary clinton today as she announced further sanctions against north korea. tensions in the area have been rising, our correspondent has the report. >> hillary clinton was given her first of close glimpse of north

korea. the u.s. secretary of state's visit to the heavily fought -- heavily fortified border was a part of the symbolism of this trip, a show of support for their south korean and allies. at a press conference, mrs. clinton made clear that there was substance. >> today i am announcing a series of measures to increase our ability to prevent north korea's proliferation and halt their illicit activities that funds their weapons programs as the surge brings more provocative action. these are aimed at the procurement of material. >> punishment for no. 3 apostle legend torpedo into the warships in south korea.

north korea is already one of the most heavily sanctioned countries on the planet, but these new sanctions announced are meant to squeeze its armed proliferation activities even harder and place further restrictions on its import of luxury goods. mrs. clinton said that the measures were not directed at the people of north korea, but the misguided policies of their leaders. >> the other partners -- >> she also said that there was still a chance for north korea to choose a different path, having sanctions lifted and energy assistance provided if it stopped being belligerent toward its neighbors. >> he may have an international arrest warrant for genocide against him, but the president of sudan has traveled to chad to attend a regional summit. the first country he has visited since his warrant was issued.

>> a visit of like any other. president bashir arriving in a country that is legally bound to arrest him for crimes of genocide allegedly committed in darfur. but he is treated as a valued guest. even six months ago it was impossible, they had fought a war by proxy. in february they signed a deal that they've for once respected. >> everything that went on was an accident. we regret it enormously. we have turned the page, working together in the interest of two nations. i have always thought of chad as my second home. despite the war. >> in recent months they have kicked out the rebels that they

used to shelter. sudan has made concessions as well. chad will face the anger of the international court by welcoming bashir onto their territory. his visit is a further reminder of the support that he enjoys far -- from most arab and african leaders. >> after months of political wrangling, president obama has signed into law the biggest overhaul of financial regulation in decades -- in his words to prevent further financial disasters. the u.s. central bank took a leading role. they will have new powers to seize and break out financial giants, ending the two big to fail problem. a new consumer protection agency will help to curb fraudulent taxes.

>> another key initiative goes into law, and increasingly unpopular president signs a reform. >> you will finally bring transparency to the complex transactions that triggered the financial crisis. finally, because of this law of the american people will never again be asked to foot the bill for wall street's mistakes. there will be no more cash funded bailout. >> but the republican opposition says that this bill will cost more jobs because it will screes access to credit. it may be true with voters with high joblessness. >> this financial reform bill is ill-conceived and will make credit harder for the american people to get, harder for

american businesses to get. >> it has been three years since the housing bubble burst. involving the world in a worldwide recession. half of a century of -- >> half of a century of deregulation led to a wild west situation with derivatives, securitization, and all sorts of tomfoolery. >> the new law attempts to put an end to that. does the risk regulator has powers to wind down failing financial firms. >> passing this major piece of legislation is a political factor in president obama's cap. this as regulators begin to rewrite the rules of the world's most complex financial system. >> the former comrade black has

been released on bail after two years into his six year fraud sentence. his company was once the world's third largest newspaper group but in 2007 he was convicted of defrauding shareholders of $6 million. nick has the report. >> conrad black, the day he was sentenced to six years in jail. among the evidence that helped to convict him, security camera pictures showing him carrying boxes of documents away from his own offices. >> shareholders said that he was stealing from the company. he has found a way to discover the u.s. law in which he was partially convicted was unconstitutional. the genius of conrad black, irrepressible in the climb up the mountain.

>> his career began here at the old daily telegraph building. he took control and successfully revamped it. the telegraph became the centerpiece for what was the world's third largest newspaper. >> he renounced his canadian citizenship so that he could accept. >> conrad black, the right trusted. >> while some admired his achievements, many found it arrogant and extravagant. an apartment in new york, expensive houses in london and florida. some said that he was living in billionaires' like stale on a millionaires -- lifestyle on a millionaire's salary. he spent the last two years in

this florida jail and today was freed as the head of the appeal. what now for conrad black? >> he will go out of his way to let us know that he has been vindicated and if he stays out of jail he will come for revenge. those that attacked him in the city should look out, conrad is back. >> he has been told he must stay in the united states or paid $2 million in bail. >> you are watching "bbc world news." silicon, rare access to the kurdish account in iraq. british astronomers say that they have observed the biggest star detected anywhere in the universe. twice as big as anything seen before, more than 250 times the mass of the sun.

>> in a galaxy far, far away is a giant son. 300 times larger than our own. 10 million times brighter. it sounds like the start of a science fiction story, but astronomers really have discovered a star so large and hot that it would burn any planets around it to a crisp. >> we are used to seeing stars that 150 times the size of the sun. this one, when born, was 120 sought -- 120 times of the sun, very unusual. >> here is our son. by far the largest thing in our solar system. 1.5 million times the size of our earth. let's compare it with this newly discovered stark, a giant by comparison. the largest store that astronomers have never discovered. long ago it used to be even larger. our own sun is twice the size of

the average start, but there is nothing in our galaxy that is as large, a fact that is baffling astronomers. >> we have never observed stars this size in our own galaxy. we are trying to work out whether or not that is because they have formed in our galaxy and have been blown themselves up, or whether or not they just cannot form in large galaxies like our own. >> in science what burns twice as bright burns half as long. a few million years, blink of an eye on the cosmic timescale, this giant will evaporate and blow up, leaving nothing behind it all. >> this is "bbc world news." a survey in the iraqi town of fallujah has shown an increase in cancer, leukemia, and infant mortality.

the u.s. secretary of state looks over the demilitarized zone on a visit to south korea. the leader of the kurdish pkk rebel group has told the bbc that they're willing to disarm under un supervision if the turkish government meets certain demands. they are listed as a terrorist organization by most western governments. for years they have attacked targets in turkey from inside iraq. our correspondent traveled to kurdistan to meet the leader. >> somewhere in the mountains, the fighters are training. this video, film by the group itself, showing one side of a conflict that has claimed the lives of around 40,000 people on both sides. turkey says that these men are terrorists. the u.s. and european union agreed.

here's why. this attack on the bus in istanbul killed five people, four of them soldiers, one of them a 17-year-old girl. a splinter group has admitted to carrying out the attack. this has been going on for 26 years. we were invited to witness a camp at a secret location in the mountains. the fighters were not keen to be filmed. for more than one decade they have used these mountains as a base from which to plan and execute attacks inside turkey. justifying killing in the name of a political cause. saying that the un supervision would mean a cease-fire. they accused the utilization of the bodies of fighters and that the war would continue. >> they cut out his eyes.

we will go on to fix what is needed. >> this war is being fought on two fronts. turkey to the north, iran to the east. most countries have been hit by bombardments on their territory. you can see the results of this bombing in this massive crater. deeper than i am tall, caused by a turkish air flying at the end of june 1 night that dropped two bombs. scattering pieces of shrapnel this big all over the place, causing the destruction that you see over there to those houses. >> here are some of the victims

of this forgot more. 2000 victims forced to flee their villages in a barrage of bombardment. >> yes, this man told me, the fighters come to our villages, but what can we do about it? they are armed and we just want to be left in peace. >> sporadic shelling continues. these farmers can do little more than pray that they can go home soon. >> a car bomb near the iraqi city north of baghdad has killed at least 11 people. many others were injured in that attack. the blast brought down a number of buildings in the area. a former prime minister in kosovo, facing a retrial for torture. witnesses were intimidated when [unintelligible] was acquitted in 2008.

the events that -- events allegedly happened in 2008. deadbeat the oil spill in the gulf of mexico could be halted within two weeks if a storm does not stop the work. bp executives say that the relief, should reach the oil well, which has been leaking for three months, by the weekend. with assets in texas, canada, and egypt, meeting a part of the bill, the correspondence said that bp has improved its financial position. >> they raised $7 billion from this asset sale to apache. that that is a substantial chunk of cash. one month ago they announced plans to divest $10 billion in assets, they have taken a very big step towards achieving that.

>> how much smaller does bp have to get to survive? what does this say about the oil industry? >> they will be not delivering their main assets, focusing in the last few years on the gulf of mexico and west africa, deep water areas where they are producing barrels. the assets that they have now, sold to apache, not central to the business. it will not have a major impact on global production. something like the assets sold account for 2% of global production. i do not think it will have that much of an impact on bp. it will obviously be a smaller

company as a result. hopefully they will be able to maintain positions in the areas that matter to it. >> what a prime minister talks about cabinet colleagues in that way, usually the toast is in a matter of weeks. >> the agencies are not giving great odds for tony a were staying in his job beyond christmas. you certainly do not detect a grounds what -- groundswell of opposition. privately there is a sense that bp is going to have to root and branch the overhaul of its management. there is an overhaul of where people will go. a lot of people privately say that tony a word is a likely to

be removed as chief executive, -- hayward is likely to be removed as chief executive. >> officials in romania are exhuming the bodies of ceausescu to double check his identity. >> the unassuming grave of ceausescu, the dictator that ruled romania for so many years. after years of campaigning, the family has been allowed to check. forensic scientists went into the cemetery that was closed off. the bodies believed to be of ceausescu were lifted out of the ground. samples of the remains were taken and sealed in plastic bags. >> until we have the final results, i do not know of my

father-in-law is really dead. >> there are a lot of doubts regarding the idea that he is buried here. those that bury him did it like thieves during the night, there could be other people. >> the ceausescus capt. iron fisted rule over romania with an iron fisted and strange ideology. food was exported while romanians were added and they drew inspiration from north korea. he even tried to prove his cold war independence from the soviet union by hosting president nixon to a lavish visit. >> december 1989, the mists of ravel, faltering during the speech.

his security apparatus turned against him and the couple's found themselves facing a military tribunal. immediately afterwards, they were shot. the tests have been taken and the bodies are up from the ground. results could take months. one family member said that the body thought to be ceausescu's was wrapped in the black winter coat that he wore the day he died. there were holes in it that they resume the were the bullets of the firing squad. romania is now an emerging democracy. the execution of the ceausescus was the last time that the death penalty was used. >> a reminder of our top story, doctors in fallujah have been reporting abnormally large numbers of birth defects. the new survey shows increases in cancer, leukemia, and infant

mortality. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold. get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies.

what can we do for you? >> there is one stage that is the met and carnegie hall. >> o, that this too, too solid flesh -- >> it is the kennedy center. >> check, one, two. >> and a club in austin. [woman vocalizing] >> it is closer than any seat in the house, no matter where you call home. >> the top of the world, and i'm there, i'm home. >> pbs -- the great american stage that fits in every living room. your support of pbs brings the arts home. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles. presented by kcet, los angeles.

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